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Grant to provide Center of Hope advocate

A local nonprofit that assists victims of domestic violence will have better access to those affected with the help of the Columbia Police Department and a Justice Assistance Grant.

The police department received the grant in September, and Columbia City Council members will vote Oct. 10 to give those funds to Center of Hope.

CPD officials originally applied for the grant — which was split between them and the Maury County Sheriff’s Department — to pay for new equipment but are instead using their $13,000 share to hire a part-time Center of Hope advocate who will receive domestic violence reports and follow up with victims the day after, Assistant Chief Michelle Jones said.

“Once the Family Justice Center did not come full-circle, we thought we might better utilize this grant money toward domestic violence,” Jones said.

Columbia was awarded a $240,000 Justice Center grant in July to plan a facility over the course of three years. The city turned down the grant in August, with Columbia Police Chief Tim Potts saying it “put the cart before the horse” in addressing local issues.

Instead, Potts proposed a three-step initiative to curbing domestic violence in the area. The plan includes forming a Special Victims Unit, applying for grant programs to aid victim advocates and working with the district attorney’s office to increase prosecution of repeat offenders.

The Special Victims Unit has already been created, and the police department is tracking repeat offenders to ensure the district attorney’s office knows their criminal histories before going to court, Potts said at a meeting Thursday.

The chief said he estimates 50 percent of people charged with domestic violence-related crimes are repeat offenders, and tracking their cases will allow police to provide information that could get them tougher sentences.

As the final leg of the initiative, the Justice Assistance Grant will allow Center of Hope to hire an advocate who will likely spend 20 hours a week receiving reports from the police department and speaking with victims, whether they were involved in physically abusive situations or not, Center of Hope Executive Director Angela Slack said.

The organization will then report the number of victims who use its services to the police department, Potts said.

The nonprofit currently receives reports weeks after they are made, and calling victims that much later could put them in danger, Slack said.

“We have no idea what happened between the victim and the offender,” she said. “We don’t want to put them in more danger when we have no clue what’s going on two weeks later.”

Being able to call the day after a report is made will allow the nonprofit to get victims services sooner, such as creating a safety plan or setting up therapy sessions. It will also allow the organization to focus on all victims instead of mainly those who are in extreme situations, Slack said.

“Our goal is to get face-to-face with as many of these victims as soon as possible after the initial report,” Slack said, adding that the victims could be involved in anything from a verbal argument to a physical fight.

Having the advocate at Center of Hope will also free up a CPD officer who was making follow-up calls to victims, Jones said. The officer was often making the calls while trying to handle other duties.

“We’re hoping by employing someone to do that, we’ll reach a lot more of the victims,” Jones said.

Jones and Slack said they were excited for the continued partnership the grant will provide the police department and nonprofit and look forward to seeing where it will lead.

“As we move into the next phase, we want to take the next stage and bring in other community partners to continue these conversations about this issue,” Slack said.

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